Mission Eight: The confusion
I never thought she would become a part of me, I hated everything about her but I guess that's what makes her get under my skin.
Three days have passed since that weird incident. With the mansion, that photo, the man with Azelf and Dawn's weird actions. We had now arrived at Lake Valor and we were waiting for Dawn's companions to arrive. While we have been travelling together I've notice something. She isn't as annoying as I first thought. I thought her as an annoying clutz because every time I saw her she would always be doing something stupid. But travelling with her for at least two weeks now, that's change. Yes I do admit she is still annoying, but not as much as before. It's like I've gotten use to her silly actions.
We were both at the pier, for nearly twenty minutes. Dawn was at the waiting dock, playing with her Piplup who was for once, in its pokeball. She was on her knees, splashing water at her water type's face. It giggled as she laughed. I was at the bench and only a few feet away from her. I had my book out, I would always read it every time I had to wait for something interesting to happen but something different happened on that day. Instead of reading my book I was gazing at Dawn and her playing with her pokemon. It felt like watching her was always going to be more interesting than the book I had in my hands. Soon my ears picked up a faint call, up high in the sky. That call woke me from my trance and stood onto my feet, looking up high into the sky.
"Hey!" Another voice called up in the skies. Dawn held Piplup in her arms and stood up, looking up into the sky. A small black image started to come into my view and a few seconds later my mind painted the picture what that image was. It was a plane that could land on water; they were rare so see these types of planes in Sinnoh since it was a region close to the others. "Hey!" The voice repeated. The voice was much louder and more recognisable.
"Wow!" Dawn called out. A huge smile grew across her face. "It's Ash!" She added. "ASH!" Dawn raised her right arm and started to wave back at her friend. "Ash!" She called out.
"He isn't going to hear you from up there." I walked up to her and pointed up to the sky. "Save your breath until he gets down here." I pointed to the platform.
But she wasn't listening.
I blinked at her blankly for a few seconds and saw she hasn't replied or even look at me. She just continued to gaze up in the sky, watching the plane Ash was in and watch it about to come close to us. She looked like she didn't even hear me, like she had cut all her hearing senses and just watch Ash come down from the sky. It felt like she would rather watch her old friend arrive than listen to me. I was surprised she even ignored me without complaining first. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Whatever."
"Huh?" Dawn returned to reality. "Did you say something Paul?" Dawn asked at me blankly.
"Forget it." I sighed.
Soon the plane my old rival was in, touched into the sea. Its landing rails splashed water everywhere but it didn't get me or Dawn. When the plane has stopped moving the passenger side door opened wide and jump out Ash.
"Hey Dawn!" He greeted with one of his goofy smiles. "Long time no see!"
"Too long Ash!" Dawn chuckled. "And I like your new outfit."
I noticed that as well. He wasn't wearing his black vest with that 'V' yellow stripe across it. His outfit made him look somehow, more childish that before. He wore a vest-T-shirt type of top with the half top painted blue and the bottom half white. It had a huge yellow zipper running down the middle and two black lines, one near the shoulders and one slightly lower. His cap was also different; the front half was white with the usual blue pokeball design on the middle as the rest was red. He still wore cargo type of pants but only grey this time. Also his old companion Pikachu was on his shoulder, cheerful as ever.
"Thanks." He scratched his head. "My mother made this for me back home. In fact she is the one always making me new clothes every time I go into a new region."
His mother? Mothers do that kind of stuff? Then I began to wonder to myself that if I didn't lose my mother at a young age would I be as kind as Ash? Would I say things like 'be kind to your Pokémon' or 'Pokémon are our friends' like he always told me? Would I?
"Oh, hey there Paul" Ash waved at me. "I'm surprised your here. I thought you would be in a different region right now."
"If I stay here or not, it's not part of your concern." I replied.
"So Dawn." Ash turned his attention back to Dawn. "Have you been in any contests yet?"
"Not recently." Dawn sighed sadly. "Ever since you left me I haven't been able to pull myself together." Ash placed his hand on her shoulder. I felt like I was ruining their special moment of some kind.
When he looked into her eyes like that, I felt like I had to stop it before it got worse. But I didn't know how.
"Hey, I was sad when we parted but remember I knew that we were going to see each soon." He added another smile of his. "But hey what matters is that I'm here."
"Yeah your right." Dawn's sad expression soon faded away. "Let's head to the poke centre then."
"Oh now we aren't!" Another voice called from inside the place. Ash turned around and his backpack was nearly face palmed into his face. He grabbed he backpack into his arms and a young girl popped out of the plane. "You told me we were going to eat first."
"Sorry, I forgot about that May." Ash apologized. "I was so excited to see Dawn again." He laughed.
The brunette girl who went by the name of May was another of Ash's friends. I remember watching her do her appeal barely back when I was walking past the Wallace Cup. Also her outfit remained the same since I last saw her on TV. An orange vest that reached up to her waist, with her green fanny pack on her waist with two white pockets on her vest. Black cycling shorts that just reached to her knees and a bright green bandana wrapped around her short unusual hairstyle.
"May?" Dawn asked in confusion. "I thought you were back home after winning the Johto grand festival?"
"Well I got bored doing nothing at home and when Ash told me that he was going to visit you in Sinnoh. I decided I might as well come along." She added a smile. She turned her attention towards me. "And you are?" She pointed at me with a confused look on her face. "Have we met before?"
"No." I replied. I placed my hands into my pocket. "I'm going." I stated to Dawn. Dawn turned her attention away from Ash and to me.
"Huh?" She began. "Where are you heading?"
"To Lake Valor." I replied. "There is something there I want to find out." I gazed at Dawn quickly before I saw Ash walking up to me, whispering a few words into my ears. Something I found unusual for him to do.
"There's no point going there now." He whispered to me in some sort of chilling cold manner, something awkward for him to say before turning to the other two girls. "Azelf isn't there anymore after what happened to him." He smiled at them. "Well then Paul." He turned towards me once more. "Dawn, May and me will head to the pokecenter now. See you there later!" He rushed right past me, letting Dawn and May tag after him quickly before they lost track of him. I watched as the three of them ran off toward the pokecenter and began to think to myself.
"There's no point going there now." What does he mean by that? Why did Ash talk to me like going over there was wrong or yet a waste of time?
I walked down the path of the city. Children ran past me with many different colour balloons in their hands, other teenagers eating ice cream on benches in the park, pokemon running around and having fun with each other. I placed my hands firm around the rails of the the fence while in front of me was Lake Valor. Where Azelf was usually found at. I dug my hand into the depths of my bag and released Mesprit, in her sprit form. She sat on the rails, with her back facing the lake.
"So, were finally here eh?" She asked me. I looked at the lake and saw how dark the lake's colour was. "Don't expect my brother to be here."
"I'm not an idiot. Of course I know that!" I yelled. I shifted my eyes from left to right and saw nobody had heard my call. If they heard me they would call me an idiot, talking to myself in front of Lake Valor. "But my head can't get around it that it's him. It nots him!"
"I find it hard to believe it myself, but we have to find out why his doing all of this. If we don't he will get Uxie soon." Mesprit added.
"Damn!" I placed my elbows against the rails and raised my hands on top of my head. "What the hell is happening around me? It's not making sense anymore!"
"Calm down Paul." Mesprit placed her hand gently on top of my shoulder. "Keep your voice down to avoid any attention. He could find us here. As long he has Azelf with him, he can see me as well. We could get us in trouble." I looked up at her.
"Knowing him, who knows?"
Hours had passed since the arrival of Ash and May at Lake Valor. Dawn told me when I got back from the Lake that the Wallace Cup was cut off since Wallace had to fight challengers that wanted to take his spot as Champion of Hoenn. It was around midnight and I couldn't sleep because of the words Ash whispered to me. Also adding the face that him was in my mind. I knew who he was but I couldn't come to the fact to accept it. It just wasn't right. I lay on my side, facing the door that was slightly open, letting the light of the halls enter into my room. I threw the blanket over my face to hope to fall back to sleep again but I just couldn't. I soon heard muttering from outside the hall. At first I thought it was Dawn snoring but she wasn't. She was sleeping quietly while hugging her Piplup. I threw the blanket off me and put my violet and purple jacket on me. I popped my head out of the door to listen to the muttering words from the hall. I walked myself out of the room and let my ears guide me to the words I heard. Normally I didn't be bothered with gossipers but the voice I heard sound so familiar that I had to know who it was.
I was at the end of the hallway and was about to walk into the main room of the pokecenter. I hid behind a thick pot plant when I saw Nurse Joy talking to Ash with a scared expression of her face. Ash was rather more surprised than frightened. Nurse Joy nodded before leaving the counter for her to receive a good night's rest as Ash headed to the computers, where trainers would talk either by phone or via videophone. I sighed.
"This is a waste of time." I sighed before heading back but a phrase stopped me.
"I'm surprised someone like you even bothered to call me. What a surprised."
He acted so different. He spoke so differently. I never saw him that interesting to think about but now, that's all changed.
"So what do you want now?" Ash spoke in an annoyed manner as he crossed his arms. His Pikachu wasn't on his shoulder so I knew this was different to his talks with his close friends. So what did really happen while he was in Unova? Did he change or was he really like this? I had to know. "No, Forget it." He shifted his eyes away from the webcam. He turned his attention back to the cam. "Be glad you called? Please."
The person's voice Ash was talking with was all faded and weak and was really hard to here from the hallway. If I was where Ash was standing at then I would be able to hear who this person he was talking to.
"Please be joking. Talking to you is the last thing I want to do." He rolled his eyes. "This is such a waste of time. Why did I bother talking to you? Nothing is going to change." I heard the person responding to Ash's' statement. "If you're going to ramble about things I already know then I might as well hang up on you." He ran his fingers through his hair, looking irritated. "Just shut up." She spoke. "Please."
The more Ash spoke in this type of manner the more shocked I became. To start off he never spoke to anymore in such a negative manner and never got mad at anyone so quickly. Well he did get mad at me when I told him what a pathetic trainer he was but this time it was different. The words he used were words I thought he would ever say. Just what did Ash really hide under that cap of his?
"Don't you dare turn the webcam on." He placed his hand near the keyboard. "I'm not in the mood to see you." He placed on of his hands on his face. "Your looks are always the same, hard to look at." The person on the other side of the conversation yelled in response. Ash looked at the speaker annoyed and with his eyes half open. "Goodnight." He replied as he pressed his fingers on the 'on' button and yawned. "How annoying." He sighed. "That conversation made me hungry now." He added. "Guess I have to hold it in until breakfast." He placed his hands behind his black hair and began to walk to the hallway. I stood up and started to walk towards his direction, pretending I had just waked up and never heard his conversation. I looked up to him.
"What are you doing up so late?" I asked, acting like I was surprised to see him up this late.
"Nothing." He grinned. "Just had to speak to someone important to me." He chuckled afterwards.
"Family perhaps?" I asked.
"Yeah." He let his hands down from behind his head. "Mother just annoying me about some stuff." He walked right past me, bumping into my left shoulder by accident.
"You're a bad liar Ash." I spoke without looking back at him. I heard him stop walking back to his room.
"So are you Paul." He replied before heading to the room he was staying at. I turned to face him and watch him open the door and walk in, without a single glance at me. I was shocked with the words he said.
Did he know I was listening to him? Was all of that an act to get me thinking? Was this new Ash the real him or just a simple joke? At the start I could read him like a book I've read over and over again but now the words have become blurry and I had to now try to read what was left.
And it felt like the old Ash I knew was gone and this new one, had now become a treat, but what kind of treat did he really pose and what for?
Last minute Authors notes:
Eh? what's wrong with Ash? want to know? keep reading. =D
~midnight
